Watch Alabama Shakes Travel Back In Time With Cover Of 'Killer Diller'

There's old-school, and then there's old-school. As a TV special to conclude the PBS documentary series American Epic — which tells the story of the music immortalized by a 1920s-era recording studio — TheAmerican Epic Sessions compels contemporary musicians to use a re-creation of that studio in an effort to duplicate the classic performances' immediacy and intensity.

It's a cool project, and it's one of many tied to the American Epic series, the first installment of which aired Tuesday. In addition to the documentary and the Sessions special, there's a five-disc, 100-song box set (American Epic: The Collection) full of sonically restored original recordings from the '20s and '30s; a 15-song distillation titled American Epic: The Soundtrack; a companion album to the Sessions special; an assortment of genre- and artist-specific spinoff compilations under the American Epic name; lots of vinyl editions released via Jack White's Third Man label; and a companion book titled, you guessed it, American Epic.

The American Epic Sessions airs June 6 on PBS. Its soundtrack comes out June 9 via Columbia.